Interviews: Dogflesh

On this new occasion, we had the opportunity to interview the Thrash Metal/Heavy Metal/Crossover band Dogflesh from England. Check out the interview and follow this band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name? Was it planned, or did it just happen organically?

When we decided to form a band back in 1982, we didn’t have a name, but the original singer had Dogsflesh painted on his jacket, and I asked him whothey  were, and his reply was, ‘Nobody, I just liked the name, soI  painted it on my jacket,’ and that was where the name came from

2. Why did you choose to play this genre?

The genre has musically evolved throughout the years. Originally back in 1982 we were a hardcore punk band, along the lines of The Exploited, GBH and Discharge, but most of the lineup from 83 onwards were into metal as well, so when The English Dogs brought out to The Ends Of The Earth EP and Broken Bones came along integrating Metal & Punk, it wasn’t only the start of thrash, that was the beginning for ourselves as well, then as new members came and went, they put some of their identity into the songwriting and with all of them being into Metal and Rock Music, that was how we ended up in the genre that we are in currently, which is a million miles away from where we were back in 1982 and very similar to what Onslaught did.

3. Did you know each other before forming the band?

The original members of the band all knew each other, as we used to frequent a popular live music venue in Middlesbrough called The Rock Garden, but we have gone through a number of lineup changes since 1982, as to be expected over that period of time, and a lot of previous members weren’t known to us. The current bass player and drummer, I didn’t know, but Dav,e our lead guitarist, did know them through playing with them in his previous bands, and that’s how they joined the band and are with us today. 

4. What is each band member's favourite band?

That is a very good question, and the honest answer is that we have a pretty varied choice of favourite bands, which are below:

Rob Moore – Guitar/Vocals – Early Iron Maiden, Volbeat & Municipal Waste

Dave Earl – Lead Guitar – Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper & Black Label Society 

Martin Pickering – Bass Guitar – Slayer, Opeth & Neurosis

Simon ‘Cozy’ Verrill – Queen, Iron Maiden & Dream Theatre

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs? 

Nobody inspires us to write songs and we get inspiration from various sources, with City Of Gold which is a track on the new album, March Of The Damned, Dave sent me a riff which was very Spanish sounding, so I wrote the lyrics around the conquistadors and the Aztec empire, other songs have been written around things that have happened to us as individuals or as a band and other songs have been written around subjects that interest me, like history and mythology, which is where Medusa’s Kiss originated from and also the title track of the new album ‘March Of The Damned’ which was based around Napoleons ill fated invasion of Russia.

6. Where was your last gig?

The last gig we played was in Newcastle at a very popular Rock Venue in the North East of England called Trillians Rock Bar.

7. Where would you like to perform in the future?

Throughout the years we have played throughout most of Europe and also two headline tours of America, so we would like to play countries that we haven’t played before, like South America, the Far East and also Scandinavia as we have never played there before, also we have had a taste of playing some big festivals in UK, Germany and Czech Republic, so would like to play more of those as well, throughout the world.

8. Which artist or band would you like to collaborate with?

Again, because we all have different musical preferences, you will get 4 different answers, which are detailed below:

Rob – Vocals/Guitar - Rob Caggiano as an artist, he wrote some great songs in Volbeat, and also whilst in Anthrax, or Lady Gaga, as she has a great metal voice, as we saw with her collaboration with Metallica

Dave – Lead Guitar – Alice Cooper

Martin – Bass Guitar – Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth

Cozy – Drums – Porcupine Tree with Gavin Harrison

9. Is there anyone you wouldn’t want to collaborate with?

That was a unanimous call by everybody, and it would definitely be Coldplay

10. Have any of you ever experienced stage fright? Do you have any tips for beginners on overcoming it?

No, this hasn’t happened before with any member of the band. My tip would be go out there and enjoy it, and if you make a mistake, so what? It's not the end of the world; just have fun while you are onstage.

11. Which bands have influenced you the most?

Another great question, and there are a few bands, from GBH, Discharge, The English Dogs, Broken Bones, Motorhead, early Iron Maiden, and also early Metallica.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

We haven’t had any strange requests, up to now, haha

13. What do you think of your fans?

Everything, without them we have nothing, and we are so appreciative of everybody that comes to watch us playing live and who buys or downloads our music, they are the most important people in the world to us, and we always interact with them wherever possible.

14. What do you think of our site?

It’s a great site, what you are doing is superb, and again, like with the fans, without websites like yours, record labels, music venues, booking agents, etc., we would have nothing, and we are so appreciative of anybody that supports our band in any way. Keep up the good work, guys your doing a terrific job and long may you continue.

15. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

We will be out on the road during 2026 with our first gig supporting ‘Abbadon’s Venom’ in London in March, which should be a great night. We also have some more UK dates which are currently being finalised. Finally, a big thank you to you and the website for supporting the band, and I hope that your website followers like this interview and will check out the new album ‘March Of The Damned’, which is available on all streaming platforms now.